A man has been arrested at Sumburgh Airport for trying to board a flight to Glasgow while allegedly carrying an offensive weapon. The 29-year-old was apprehended and taken into police custody following a report from security staff. The weapon is believed to have been a knuckle-duster, although that has not been confirmed by police. A […]

LOGANAIR's lunchtime service from Shetland to Glasgow was delayed by more than an hour on Tuesday after a 29-year-old man tried to board the plane with an offensive weapon.
Police were alerted after Sumburgh airport security staff took the weapon off the man prior to him boarding.
The aircraft was already in the process of getting ready for take off and had to return to its apron outside the terminal building to allow two police officers to arrest the man.

THE Shetland Community Orchestra has unveiled a programme featuring a mixture of classical and contemporary works for its spring 2015 concert.
A spokesman said the orchestra invited new members to join back in January and it was not disappointed, adding players in every section, and the collective is now “going from strength to strength”.

The Shetland Schools Music Festival committee, together with the Shetland Community Orchestra, are running a day of workshops and performances as part of the “Ten Pieces” project. A new initiative for primary schools, Ten Pieces is led by the BBC and focuses on classical music and creativity. The aim is to open up the world […]

BROUGH Lodge in Fetlar is to receive over £460,000 for the next stage of renovations to turn it into a residential heritage centre.
The historic Gothic mansion is being transformed into a “mixed-use commercial venue” bringing people to the island for arts and environmental courses and retreats, and will also offer short-stay holiday accommodation.

A PLANE struck by lightning on its way to Shetland in mid December nose-dived to 1,100 feet above sea level on autopilot before starting to climb, an Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report has found.
The captain of Loganair’s Saab 2000 believed the strike had disabled the plane’s autopilot system and attempted to turn its nose upwards, but the aircraft did not respond as anticipated.

NHS Grampian wants Shetland folk to help provide names for two major new health buildings on its Foresterhill hospital campus site in Aberdeen. The buildings, a new hospital and a centre costing around £120 million, will serve patients from the Northern Isles as well as the Grampian area. The new hospital will include maternity, gynaecology, […]

NHS GRAMPIAN is seeking naming suggestions from members of the public in the Northern Isles as it develops two major new buildings on its Foresterhill campus site in Aberdeen.
The two buildings, being built at a cost of £120 million and expected to be open by the end of 2020, will serve patients from NHS Shetland and NHS Orkney as well as those in Grampian.

SHETLAND Arts Development Agency (SADA) chairman Danus Skene has resigned from his position with the organisation to concentrate on the general election campaign he is contesting for the SNP. His move follows an intervention by northern isles Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael who has called on Shetland Arts to go public on its plans to restructure the arts development agency.
Skene made it clear that he did not want the organisation to become a political football during the election campaign.

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WHAT do you do when the Guizer Jarl is forced to pull out of your local fire festival at the last minute?
Why, naturally, you call on your local MSP for help.
Sure enough, Tavish Scott stepped into the breach and on Friday he stepped out again at the head of 20 men to lead the Bressay Up Helly Aa jarl squad as a character called Hans Siggurdsson.

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LIKE the community itself, Cullivoe Up Helly Aa is growing from strength to strength with no small thanks due to this year’s jarl’s ancestors.
Back in 1970 when Andrew Williamson was Guizer Jarl the number of squads was on the decline.
So the following year his wife, local head teacher Carol, and he organised the first primary school pupils’ Up Helly Aa squad.

A WHALE which has been swimming around a Shetland voe for the past five days has been causing concern in local wildlife circles. The long-finned pilot whale appeared in Whiteness Voe on Sunday where it remained until Tuesday when it swam back out to sea, according to local whale watchers Steve and Sharon Jack.
However the whale returned on Wednesday afternoon and is now swimming close inshore around Nesbister, raising concerns about its wellbeing.

THE OIL price drop has put on hold plans to convert the former NHS Shetland headquarters in Lerwick into a 125 bed hotel.
Investors behind the £9 million plan for Brevik House, on South Road, are around £550,000 short of their target to purchase the property from the NHS.

NHS Shetland is still encouraging islanders to receive a flu jab, despite admitting the vaccine does not protect people against the main strain of flu spreading across the isles.
Laboratory tests have shown that the vaccine produced for this winter is only successful in three to ten per cent of the cases after a major genetic mutation of the main flu virus.

Health Secretary Shona Robison has praised staff in NHS Orkney for treating 99 per cent of accident & emergency patients within four hours in January. A&E figures for the month of January show Balfour Hospital’s A&E department treated 99 per cent of people within four hours – far exceeding the national average of 85.4 per ...

David Stewart, (Scottish Labour) MSP for the Highlands and Islands and the Shadow Transport & Islands Minister has expressed his “disappointment” that following a consultation, the UK government has ruled […]

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar will be joining with more than 730 Commonwealth Flag Events in locations throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, UK Overseas Territories, and Commonwealth […]

Following a statement that Electricity network operator, SSE, is backing a major charity committed to eradicating fuel poverty through a donation of £40,000, Angus McCormack, Chair of the Western Isles […]

The phones are currently out of action at the assessors and electoral registration office in Kirkwall. Efforts are under way to sort out the fault. In the meantime, people can phone Orkney Islands Council on 873535 and ask to be put through to the Assessors and Electoral Registration team, call in person at the office ...

The first of a series of OIC drop-in sessions – part of a consultation into waste collection and recycling – takes place in Westray today. The council is asking how folk in the isles feel the service could be implemented in future so there is a greater opportunity for residents to recycle closer to home. The ...

Orkney is featuring in a VisitScotland campaign which will give eight thousand people the chance to enjoy a free return trip to one of 23 islands in Scotland. The new campaign at www.visitscotland.com/brilliantislands runs until March 25, and offers free passenger tickets on NorthLink and Caledonian MacBrayne routes. There will be a draw each week, with 4,000 winners receiving ...

As all Scottish NHS Boards prepare to implement smoke-free grounds policies across Scotland by March 31, NHS Western Isles is reminding members of the public that all NHS grounds and premises in the […]

Scottish Water is continuing work on restoring water supplies to Graemsay, following a confirmed issue with the subsea pipeline that supplies the island from north Hoy. A team of divers has located a burst on the pipe but, according to company, the repair will be complex and will take a few days. Thereafter it will ...

The financial details of a proposed five-year plan aimed at improving burial grounds around Orkney is back on the OIC agenda this week. Elected members of the OIC are to discuss the funding arrangements for the plan at a meeting of the full council tomorrow, Tuesday. Last month, a meeting of the local authority’s development ...

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, is again putting pressure on government to make progress with the long awaited interconnector which will transmit electricity generated on the islands to […]